September Purchases

I almost went the entire month without making any purchases. The great part was that I really didn't feel compelled to go out shopping- I spend a lot of time going through my wardrobe, purging things and reorganizing. Two of my purchases were made at a clothing market where I was a vendor, so I was in a situation where there was clothing all around me and it was hard to resist, although I'm very happy with my purchases. The third was when I decided that I needed a statement necklace to liven up some of my outfits (I bought it online so there was less temptation).

• Forever 21 Draped Statement Necklace - I wanted to get a statement necklace and I really liked grey shades of this one and think it will fit in really well with my black & white clothing.
• Born A Bad Seed Vintage T-Shirt - This label is from my city and I've always found it to be really cool. I'll admit I don't NEED anymore graphic T's, but I just love the easygoing/edgyness of this one. I've already gotten rid of a handful of graphic-t's that I own to make way for this one.
• Leopard Print Button Down Tunic - this tunic just spoke to me and told me 'I'm perfect for fall!'. & with boots and tights it will be perfect! I have a slightly similar top that I haven't worn in a long time that I will be purging to make room for this tunic.

September Outfits

WOW, September went by fast! In a way it felt very much like an extension of summer, because the weather stayed so nice out here on the West Coast for the most part. Because of that I ended up re-wearing many of the outfits I wore during July and August and don't have too many outfit photos to share.

Top: Target, Leather Jacket: Viparo, Jeans: Urban Planet, Booties: H&M

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★★
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

 Denim Jacket: Thrifted, Dress: H&M, 'What Ever' Loafers: Forever 21

I call this my 'Norm Core' outfit...

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★☆☆

Leather Jacket: Viparo, Black & White Top: Target, Purse: Winners

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

September, so far

We are halfway into September and I have yet to make a purchase. I have done a bit of online shopping browsing, I even went into a thrift store and tried on a bunch of things I really liked before deciding to leave without anything (do I need another $12 Forever 21 dress that's too short or a cute top with unraveling seams? no).

My closet doors have been open for the past 2 weeks and I've been slowly taking things out to put in the donation bin, and mulling over other items. I even took an hour to completely rearrange by chests of drawers to make them more organized.

I kind of feel like building my wardrobe over the past 8 months has been very 'forced'. I've really been pressuring myself to find things that fit exactly into my color scheme, finding the right patterns and types of clothes, and it has made it much less fun. Meanwhile the 'perfect dress' or 'perfect boots' seem to allude me even though I'm looking so hard. Before I began this process I was much more of an impulse shopper; but I found my wardrobe purchases to be much more organic as well. I look into my growing black & white wardrobe now and am unsure if I'm going in the right direction. When I go out I see women who look so put together yet laid back and I envy them, but after all this work on my own wardrobe I wonder why I'm not there yet? What am I doing wrong? I feel like I know my style, yet I can't quite seem to make that show in my wardrobe and my outfits. That could possibly mean that there are still quite a few items in my closet that shouldn't be there and should be purged.

I'm going to continue rearranging, organizing and culling things from my wardrobe, and hopefully some clarity will come to me.

August Outfits

I can't believe it is September already. On one hand I already miss those hot summer days; on the other I am looking forward to warm, layered autumn outfits.

I'm very happy with last months purchase of the white leather crossover sandals from ASOS, I'm finding with my black and white wardrobe they really make small white details & patterns POP! The button down blouse I bought from H&M in early August became a fast favorite and I can see it becoming a staple in many of my fall outfits. I'm also very surprised that the brown Levi's leggings jeans (purchased in July) were worn so often- their cropped style made them work really well in the slightly cooler summer days. I can see them becoming a regular wear on warm fall and spring days.

Cardigan - Old Navy, Tank Top - Sirens, Jeans - Levi's, Sandals - Mudd

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Leopard Print Dress - ASOS, Sandals - ASOS, Watch - Fossil, Purse - Winners

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★☆☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Tank Top - Joe Fresh, Shorts - White House Black Market, Sandals - ASOS

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★★

Cardigan - Old Navy, Button Down Blouse - H&M, Jeans - Levi's,

Leopard Print Shoes - Steve Madden

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Cardigan - Old Navy, Floral Blouse - Forever 21, Jeans - Levi's, Sandals - Mudd

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Button Down Blouse - H&M, Cropped Dress Pants - Joe Fresh, Sandals - ASOS, Watch - Fossil

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★☆☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Skull Print Dress - H&M, Grey Cardigan - H&M, Sandals - Mudd

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★☆☆☆☆ I love this dress but it's so short :/
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★☆☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★☆☆

Floral Racerback Dress - H&M, Sandals - ASOS

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★★
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★★

Cardigan - Old Navy, Button Down Blouse - H&M, Jeans - Urban Planet, Moto Chain Boots - H&M

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit?★★★★★

August Purchases

After the amount of money I spent in July I'm disappointed I didn't spend less in August. I made the mistake of going to 'browse' in a few stores and falling in love with some things i shouldn't have.

Originally my plan for August involved doing another closet inventory and re-counting everything I own; I found the idea of doing that made me feel really anxious and I had zero desire to count my wardrobe again. My new plan is to go ahead with my super-wardrobe-purge and then do a closet recount near the end of the year. I can compare it to my original count I did in April. This seems like I'm giving myself a lot of time to do so but I feel like that's the amount of time I need to get it done. It's very possible I might do the count a lot sooner than that. Something I did do that I felt helped a lot was move a large part of my wardrobe into the front hall closet where I didn't see it all summer; all in all I grabbed about three things back out and I am pretty sure most of the remainder will be donated to a thrift store.

August Clothing Purchases:

• H&M Button Down Blouse - The above photo isn't the exact same print but it is the same cut. I love this blouse, the cut and the simple detail it adds to my outfits. It's one of the first garments in awhile I've owned that I can visualize wearing in a variety of outfits.
• ASOS Cami in Black and Blush - I wanted to add a couple of loose camis to my wardrobe to wear under sweaters. These ones get the job done.
• ASOS Wrap Dress with Bird Print - I had been watching this dress for a few months when it finally went on sale, it looks really great on me! The only problem I have with it is that it gets wrinkled really easily!
• H&M Metallic Skirt - I know that the holiday season is a ways away but I couldn't resist picking up this skirt; I've been dying to own a sparkly/glittery skirt to wear with simple blouses to holiday parties so I had to buy this skirt as soon as I saw it.
• Forever 21 Pleated Booties - These booties look so expensive but they were only about $45! I feel like they are going to add a lot to my fall outfits.
• Faux Leather Zippered A-Line Skirt - In earlier posts i mentioned wanting to add some a-line skirts to my wardrobe and I thought this one worked great, plus it has a little bit of edge with the zippers.

Decluttering & Minimizing

One of the best things I did in July was take a large chunk of cardigans, dresses and tops out of my wardrobe, and stick them into the back of my front hall closet where I couldn't see them. It has been weeks and aside from grabbing one top back out, I haven't thought about the stuff at all.

I think later this year some of the cardigans may come back into play, but honestly I'm not very happy with them and even through the past few winters I haven't worn them, but have kept finding excuses to be able to keep them hanging in my closet. Maybe the best course of action is to get rid of them and find one cardigan/sweater to replace them all.

I also went through my basic t-shirts and separated the 'fashion' shirts; any t-shirt that I will wear on a day to day basis and enjoy wearing, from 'work' shirts; any shirt that only gets worn if I may be getting dirty that day, or if I just need something to throw on without worrying how I look (I have a lot of work gigs where I need shirts like this). Now, my main shirts drawer has been cut in half, and my 'work' shirts are on a back shelf in my closet where I can specifically go when I need one. I'm loving the less 'cluttered' feel, and not having to search through a bunch of 'meh' shirts I would never wear on my day off to find my cute t's.

A few months ago in April I did my first closet inventory and came up at a whopping 354 items (that's not including accessories)! Since then I've bought some new things, and I've tossed a few things; and I'm not totally sure if my count was completely accurate the first time since I have clothing items floating around the house in different places. I've set my mind to it that I need to downsize. I figured removing 20% of my wardrobe would be a good start; but I did the math and that's 71 items! What I would need to do first is a completely new closet inventory and count every last thing before I begin purging. Here's hoping for success!

July Outfits

July was a really fun month (I can't believe it is August already!!). There were some HOT days, and there were a few chilly days.

 Pink Suede Moto Jacket - Bershka, Top - H&M, Jeans - Urban Planet, Ballet Flats - WalMart

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit?★★★★☆

Sweater - Zara, Jeans - Urban Planet, Ballet Flats - WalMart

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★☆☆☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Sweater - clothes swap, Tank Top - H&M, Shorts - Joe Fresh, Ballet Flats - random mall store

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★☆☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★☆☆

Dress - Thrifted H&M, Shoes - random mall store

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

 

Tank Top - Joe Fresh, Denim Jacket - Forever 21, Skirt - Joe Fresh, Sandals - Joe Fresh

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★☆
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Dress - C. Wonder, Bracelet - H&M, Sandals - Joe Fresh

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★★
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★★

Tank Top - Sirens, Jeans - Urban Planet, Leopard Slip-Ons - Steve Madden, Purse - Winners

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★☆☆☆
Would I wear this outfit again?★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Leather Jacket - Viparo, Shirt - Costa Blanca, Jeans - Levis, Leopard Slip-Ons - Steve Madden

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★★
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★☆

Leather Jacket - Viparo, Long Sleeved Top - Forever 21, Jeans - Urban Planet, Leopard Slip-Ons - Steve Madden

Was I comfortable wearing it? ★★★★★
Does this outfit have multiple occasion potential? ★★★★☆
Would I wear this outfit again? ★★★★☆
How much do I feel like 'me' in this outfit? ★★★★★